Crypto-Mining Attacks Fell Sharply in 2019 but Ransomware Is Trending: Kaspersky

In the cat-and-mouse game between hackers and users, less-lucrative crypto-mining malware fell out of favor this year. While security experts at Kaspersky found that the number of “unique malicious objects” rose by 13.7 percent – led in part by a 187 percent increase in so-called web-skimmer files, malware designed to steal credit card information – the total number of mining malware infections fell drastically. Web-miner infections were down 59 percent year-over-year, from 5,638,828 infected machines to 2,259,038. However, malware like Trojan.Script.Miner.gen, Trojan.BAT.Miner.gen and Trojan.JS.Miner.m are still on the list of…

Chainalysis: PlusToken Is Dumping on Huobi OTCs, May Be Eating Into BTC Price

The most devastating cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme in history may be contributing to bitcoin’s 2019 price decline. That’s according to blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, which has been tracking funds from the roughly $3 billion PlusToken scam since the thing blew up at the end of June 2019. As the scammers have scrambled to obfuscate hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin they accrued, they’ve left a trail on the Bitcoin blockchain, and Chainalysis has been following it for months. And according to its research, released in a recent blog post,…

Bitcoin Mining Giant Canaan Shares Plummet 58%: What Does it Show About BTC?

The stock price of Canaan Inc, a bitcoin mining giant based in Beijing, has dropped by $12 to $5 since November 25, by more than 58 percent. It comes after the price of BTC abruptly declined from $7,700 to $6,600 in the same period. In recent months, as seen in the balance sheet of major mining companies like Canada’s Hut8, the declining price of BTC has made it difficult for miners to remain profitable. Bitcoin mining firm Canaan’s stock price sees a large correction (Source: Tradingview) As the hashrate increased…

Circle Pivots to Stablecoin Platform as More Execs, Teams Depart

Payments startup Circle is pivoting its business to solely offering stablecoin services with the sale of its over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk. As part of the move, the firm confirmed the departure of additional executives, just weeks after co-CEO Sean Neville announced he would be stepping down. In a lengthy blog post Tuesday, Neville and CEO Jeremy Allaire announced that the company would be focusing on its stablecoin business through 2020, with a suite of services built around the dollar-pegged USDC. As part of the transition, Circle announced that chief financial…

Canaan’s Post-IPO Stock Plunge Reveals Sales Slump, Price War With Bitmain

Cryptocurrency mining computer-maker Canaan Inc. may have picked the worst time for its initial public stock offering, which valued the company at $1.3 billion. The stock price has declined in all but four of the first 17 trading sessions since the Hangzhou-based company’s Nov. 21 sale of $90 million of U.S. shares. It’s down 35 percent since the start of last week. Canaan’s performance is being closely monitored in the cryptocurrency industry. It was the first big maker of data-mining computers to sell shares publicly and its valuation serves many…

As We Hunger for Viability, Let’s Stay True to Our Values

This post is part of CoinDesk’s 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Taylor Monahan is the founder and CEO of MyCrypto, which builds open-source applications that empower you to manage your digital assets safely.  There’s an old story [by James Thurber] about a bear who was, apparently, quite fond of drinking mead. This bear would drink and drink, and then return home to kick things over, knock down lamps, and ram his elbow through the window.…

Hong Kong Blockchain VC Hires Former NEO Exec to Launch Shanghai Office

CMCC Capital, a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm, has hired Zhao Chen from Neo Global Development, one of the largest blockchain companies in China.  Chen will join company as a partner to open an office in Shanghai to lead on equity investments in mainland China blockchain firms, the firm told CoinDesk.  “The creation of a presence in Shanghai demonstrates our commitment towards discovering and supporting the leading blockchain teams globally,” CMCC’s CEO Martin Baumann said in a statement shared with CoinDesk.  Prior to CMCC, for the last year Chen worked…

The Productization of Bitcoin Maximalism

More crypto businesses are transitioning to or choosing to focus exclusively on bitcoin only from the beginning, in some ways representing a productization of bitcoin maximalism. In China, however, the government is cracking down fiercly on resurgent crypto businesses that have taking President Xi’s positive comments about blockchain as an excuse to operate more openly. Interestingly, the attitude of many US financial firms seems to be shifting from a version of “blockchain not crypto” to “digital assets not blockchain” as they begin to adapt to demand from customers. Disclosure Read…

Bitcoin Halving Search Trend is Surging, But Why is Price Stagnant?

Searches on Google for the term “Bitcoin Halving” are much more common than they were four years ago. This has led one cryptocurrency analyst to conclude that the top will be much higher than those seen during previous bull markets. Although Google search volume is up for the term this time around, with less than 150 days before the event, price has yet to start moving. However, previous halvings have only seen major price gains in the period following the event itself. Does Bumper Search Volume for “Bitcoin Halving” Mean…